Light emitting diodes (LEDs) or LED chips, can be utilized in light emitting devices or packages for providing white light (e.g., perceived as being white or near-white), and are developing as replacements for incandescent, fluorescent, and metal halide high-intensity discharge (HID) light products. Conventional LED devices or packages can incorporate components such as metallic traces or mounting surfaces for facilitating passage of electrical signal or current to the LED chips. Such traces and/or surfaces may be plated with silver (Ag) and/or other metals for reflecting light emitted from the LED chips, thereby improving brightness of the device. Conventional devices are typically plated via an electrolytic silver plating technique over surfaces either before or after deposition of a reflective coating, such as a reflective solder mask.
There are several problems associated with conventionally plated devices and substrates. For example, if silver is plated after deposition of the solder mask, the cleaning and/or plating chemicals associated with conventional plating techniques can degrade or adversely affect the solder mask causing the solder mask to chip or flake away from the device. As the solder mask reflects light, this can adversely affect brightness of the device. In other aspects, where silver is plated before application of the solder mask, the 1solder mask can chip or flake away from device due to poor adhesion with the silver and thereby adversely affecting brightness of the device. Other problems associated with conventional plating of devices and/or substrates can include plating silver into areas where it may not need to be plated, which in addition to increasing production costs, may further require extra processing steps to remove the plated silver. For example, when using an electrolytic plating technique, silver may be plated over large areas or surfaces which are electrically charged to attract silver ions. Portions of the silver may require removal after plating. This can waste silver and contribute to an increased cost per device.
Despite the availability of various light emitting devices in the marketplace, a need remains for improved plating of devices and/or substrates within the devices and related methods. Such improvements can simplify and improve the manufacturing process of the light emitting devices as well as reduce the overall cost associated with such devices.